I'm thinking of using my pondmaster 3500 as a vacuum to get the gunk off the
bottom of my pond. I don't use a bottom drain for fear that if something
goes wrong with the external plumbing and I'm not around, the pond will
drain. Instead, I have the pump connected to two inlets -- first, an OASE no
niche skimmer and second to a drain about 18 inches off the bottom. As a
result, lots of stuff has settled on the bottom, particularly the deepest
part. My leaf vac gets the larger solids, but the mulm goes right through
the bag.

I want something I can use for my once a year cleaning to get up the mulm
and leaves. I installed a T in the line from the skimmer that I can attach
to a vac hose. I can then shut off the skimmer and drain using a ball
valves. Doing this, everything will pull through the vac hose on the T.

I was told by the folks who sold me the pump that the impeller is very
strong and can handle most of the gunk and stuff on the bottom and even chew
through the partially decomposed leaves. However, to avoid pulling too much
directly through the pump, I as thinking of creating an air tight settlement
chamber as follows:

Take a large airtight plastic bucket, much like bulk drywall mud or sidwalk
melt is sold in. Add two bulkhead fittings to opposite sides of the
container. On one of these I would attach a 90 bend directly down the side
to about 6 or 8 inches off the bottom, add another 90 so it would point
along the side parallel to the bottom. Now water entering this path would be
swirled into the tank. This would be the end to which the working end of the
vac would be attached.

The exit line would traverse from the second bulkhead fitting to the middle
of the container, then a 90 degree bend down a few inches and place a
strainer on the end. This way, it will be several inches off the bottom and
centered in the container, thus out of the swirl.

This would be attached to my T inlet toward the pump. On the outlet side of
the pump I have a similar T which I would drain into an inflatable pool to
get the dirty water out for final settlement before adding it back to the
pond. This would keep the filter from being overwhelmed.

Has anyone tried this or something similar? Other ideas welcome.

Remydog

"Remydog" wrote in message
news:aMijc.43985$w96.3533537@attbi_s54...
I'm thinking of using my pondmaster 3500 as a vacuum to get the gunk off
the
bottom of my pond. I don't use a bottom drain for fear that if something
goes wrong with the external plumbing and I'm not around, the pond will
drain. Instead, I have the pump connected to two inlets -- first, an OASE
no
niche skimmer and second to a drain about 18 inches off the bottom. As a
result, lots of stuff has settled on the bottom, particularly the deepest
part. My leaf vac gets the larger solids, but the mulm goes right through
the bag.
snip

Let us know how it goes. I am interested. This could be a great way for me
to get my clay out.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

If your clay is in suspension, I doubt that a settling chamber will help, at
least not the one that I'm considering. The basic idea of mine will be
running the water through all the time, but hopefully the larger and heavier
particles won't be going through the pump. Then, once the water is in the
inflatable pool, I'll leave it to settle out over a few days and then
carefully siphon the water back into the pond or perhaps pump it up to the
filter being careful not to disturb the bottom.

Remydog
"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...

"Remydog" wrote in message
news:aMijc.43985$w96.3533537@attbi_s54...
I'm thinking of using my pondmaster 3500 as a vacuum to get the gunk off
the
bottom of my pond. I don't use a bottom drain for fear that if something
goes wrong with the external plumbing and I'm not around, the pond will
drain. Instead, I have the pump connected to two inlets -- first, an
OASE
no
niche skimmer and second to a drain about 18 inches off the bottom. As a
result, lots of stuff has settled on the bottom, particularly the
deepest
part. My leaf vac gets the larger solids, but the mulm goes right
through
the bag.
snip

Let us know how it goes. I am interested. This could be a great way for me
to get my clay out.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

You might look at the following site
http://community.webshots.com/user/dallas75248 under pond maintenance. Jim
in Dallas has something that looks kind of like what you describe.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
"Remydog" wrote in message
news:aMijc.43985$w96.3533537@attbi_s54...
I'm thinking of using my pondmaster 3500 as a vacuum to get the gunk off
the
bottom of my pond. I don't use a bottom drain for fear that if something
goes wrong with the external plumbing and I'm not around, the pond will
drain. Instead, I have the pump connected to two inlets -- first, an OASE
no
niche skimmer and second to a drain about 18 inches off the bottom. As a
result, lots of stuff has settled on the bottom, particularly the deepest
part. My leaf vac gets the larger solids, but the mulm goes right through
the bag.

I want something I can use for my once a year cleaning to get up the mulm
and leaves. I installed a T in the line from the skimmer that I can attach
to a vac hose. I can then shut off the skimmer and drain using a ball
valves. Doing this, everything will pull through the vac hose on the T.

I was told by the folks who sold me the pump that the impeller is very
strong and can handle most of the gunk and stuff on the bottom and even
chew
through the partially decomposed leaves. However, to avoid pulling too
much
directly through the pump, I as thinking of creating an air tight
settlement
chamber as follows:

Take a large airtight plastic bucket, much like bulk drywall mud or
sidwalk
melt is sold in. Add two bulkhead fittings to opposite sides of the
container. On one of these I would attach a 90 bend directly down the side
to about 6 or 8 inches off the bottom, add another 90 so it would point
along the side parallel to the bottom. Now water entering this path would
be
swirled into the tank. This would be the end to which the working end of
the
vac would be attached.

The exit line would traverse from the second bulkhead fitting to the
middle
of the container, then a 90 degree bend down a few inches and place a
strainer on the end. This way, it will be several inches off the bottom
and
centered in the container, thus out of the swirl.

This would be attached to my T inlet toward the pump. On the outlet side
of
the pump I have a similar T which I would drain into an inflatable pool to
get the dirty water out for final settlement before adding it back to the
pond. This would keep the filter from being overwhelmed.

Has anyone tried this or something similar? Other ideas welcome.

Remydog

That is very much what I had in mind, except he has the inlet at the top and
outlet at the bottom. I had planned to do the opposite.

"RichToyBox" wrote in message
news:NZDjc.97$U51.45839@attbi_s51...
You might look at the following site
http://community.webshots.com/user/dallas75248 under pond maintenance.
Jim
in Dallas has something that looks kind of like what you describe.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
"Remydog" wrote in message
news:aMijc.43985$w96.3533537@attbi_s54...
I'm thinking of using my pondmaster 3500 as a vacuum to get the gunk off
the
bottom of my pond. I don't use a bottom drain for fear that if something
goes wrong with the external plumbing and I'm not around, the pond will
drain. Instead, I have the pump connected to two inlets -- first, an
OASE
no
niche skimmer and second to a drain about 18 inches off the bottom. As a
result, lots of stuff has settled on the bottom, particularly the
deepest
part. My leaf vac gets the larger solids, but the mulm goes right
through
the bag.

I want something I can use for my once a year cleaning to get up the
mulm
and leaves. I installed a T in the line from the skimmer that I can
attach
to a vac hose. I can then shut off the skimmer and drain using a ball
valves. Doing this, everything will pull through the vac hose on the T.

I was told by the folks who sold me the pump that the impeller is very
strong and can handle most of the gunk and stuff on the bottom and even
chew
through the partially decomposed leaves. However, to avoid pulling too
much
directly through the pump, I as thinking of creating an air tight
settlement
chamber as follows:

Take a large airtight plastic bucket, much like bulk drywall mud or
sidwalk
melt is sold in. Add two bulkhead fittings to opposite sides of the
container. On one of these I would attach a 90 bend directly down the
side
to about 6 or 8 inches off the bottom, add another 90 so it would point
along the side parallel to the bottom. Now water entering this path
would
be
swirled into the tank. This would be the end to which the working end of
the
vac would be attached.

The exit line would traverse from the second bulkhead fitting to the
middle
of the container, then a 90 degree bend down a few inches and place a
strainer on the end. This way, it will be several inches off the bottom
and
centered in the container, thus out of the swirl.

This would be attached to my T inlet toward the pump. On the outlet side
of
the pump I have a similar T which I would drain into an inflatable pool
to
get the dirty water out for final settlement before adding it back to
the
pond. This would keep the filter from being overwhelmed.

Has anyone tried this or something similar? Other ideas welcome.

Remydog

"Remydog" wrote in message
news:siCjc.54673$_L6.4317350@attbi_s53...
If your clay is in suspension, I doubt that a settling chamber will help,
at
least not the one that I'm considering. The basic idea of mine will be
running the water through all the time, but hopefully the larger and
heavier
particles won't be going through the pump. Then, once the water is in the
inflatable pool, I'll leave it to settle out over a few days and then
carefully siphon the water back into the pond or perhaps pump it up to the
filter being careful not to disturb the bottom.
snip

Overtime, my clay has fallen to the bottom and mostly stays there until the
fish or I get in there and stir it up. I have also gotten some out with
cleanings here and there, but what I am looking for is a method to vacu-suck
a large amount from the bottom, or I'll just wait.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

Remydog - Tried to reply and got something from spamex that Im not sure what
to do with. Drop me a note with your e mail addy that I can get you at.
Cudn't figure out quite how to do it . . . don't know if it's a spam killer
my husband put on or something you're using ......

"Remydog" wrote in message
news:aMijc.43985$w96.3533537@attbi_s54...
I'm thinking of using my pondmaster 3500 as a vacuum to get the gunk off
the
bottom of my pond. I don't use a bottom drain for fear that if something
goes wrong with the external plumbing and I'm not around, the pond will
drain. Instead, I have the pump connected to two inlets -- first, an OASE
no
niche skimmer and second to a drain about 18 inches off the bottom. As a
result, lots of stuff has settled on the bottom, particularly the deepest
part. My leaf vac gets the larger solids, but the mulm goes right through
the bag.

I want something I can use for my once a year cleaning to get up the mulm
and leaves. I installed a T in the line from the skimmer that I can attach
to a vac hose. I can then shut off the skimmer and drain using a ball
valves. Doing this, everything will pull through the vac hose on the T.

I was told by the folks who sold me the pump that the impeller is very
strong and can handle most of the gunk and stuff on the bottom and even
chew
through the partially decomposed leaves. However, to avoid pulling too
much
directly through the pump, I as thinking of creating an air tight
settlement
chamber as follows:

Take a large airtight plastic bucket, much like bulk drywall mud or
sidwalk
melt is sold in. Add two bulkhead fittings to opposite sides of the
container. On one of these I would attach a 90 bend directly down the side
to about 6 or 8 inches off the bottom, add another 90 so it would point
along the side parallel to the bottom. Now water entering this path would
be
swirled into the tank. This would be the end to which the working end of
the
vac would be attached.

The exit line would traverse from the second bulkhead fitting to the
middle
of the container, then a 90 degree bend down a few inches and place a
strainer on the end. This way, it will be several inches off the bottom
and
centered in the container, thus out of the swirl.

This would be attached to my T inlet toward the pump. On the outlet side
of
the pump I have a similar T which I would drain into an inflatable pool to
get the dirty water out for final settlement before adding it back to the
pond. This would keep the filter from being overwhelmed.

Has anyone tried this or something similar? Other ideas welcome.

Remydog